Sometimes parents deserve family celebrations, too!

I’m sharing #lobsterworthy moments in my life as part of a Red Lobster sponsored series for Socialstars™

Ah, family life. We have officially entered that phase of over scheduled, jam packed calendars where I'm left floundering to balance everything. Each kid has different activities and school events with varying levels of parent participation required. The more the kids have on their schedules, the harder it is to find time for chasing our own personal goals.

It would be so much easier to just claim that this is the time we prioritize the kids over ourselves until they are out of the house. But, I really don't think that sets a good example. Yes, as parents we should sacrifice for our children but it isn't healthy to raise them to believe they are the center of our family. I've stumbled across this article more than once and it resonates with me each and every time: "How American Parenting is Killing Marriage."

Spending time on ourselves is healthy. One of our big goals this year is for Tim and I to take a weekend away JUST US but that won't happen till later this summer at the earliest. But we need {and deserve!} more than just one weekend away in a year.

Tim and I both deserve to do things for ourselves. This year, we decided to spend that time and budget separately with me running my Disney 10K and Tim training for a marathon in Columbia, SC.

I went alone to my run, he went alone to his. Both of us wished we had the family waiting for us at the finish line but time and budget just didn't allow for that to happen.

Did that discourage us from going? A little bit.

Did we give up and not go? No.

Our fitness is important to the well being of our whole family and these runs were the motivation we needed to exercise in the months leading up to race day. By going alone, we saved enough money to allow for two separate trips and still came out ahead financially over having all four of us go to one weekend event.

So how did we use this as a great teaching example for our kids? We kept them involved in different ways:

1. Take advantage of technology: Both of us used the FaceTime feature on our iPhones to connect with the family back home after we crossed the finish line. We texted and sent photos before the race started and then got cheered on when showing off our medals after the finish. The kids LOVED feeling like they were part of the big day even though they were back home.

2. Enjoy a whole family celebration when the schedule allows. 

For us, that meant heading out for a lobster dinner at Red Lobster. Sometimes rewards are delayed. It took 2 weeks after Tim's marathon {and nearly 4 weeks after my run!} for us to finally have the window of time to all go out to eat together.

I love that my kids enjoy seafood--fish and shrimp specifically--and that they know crab legs and lobster are two of mommy's very favorite foods. Seafood for us is festive party food, not something that hits our normal dinner table very often.

Our server at Red Lobster knew we were celebrating special accomplishments and made sure to spoil us during our evening. Since we were toasting our runs, I felt it was a lobster worthy moment and ordered the lobster feast over my usual shrimp entree.

The Peanut's appetite is just getting big enough to warrant something a little more than the kids' meal selections. She was THRILLED when we allowed her to get the adult's lunch portion of grilled shrimp skewers. I love that she devoured all the shrimp before even glancing at the fries. Next time, I'm hoping I can convince her to try the new Bourbon Pecan Sweet Potatoes side dish instead. Baby steps!

As we enjoyed our meal, I made sure to casually chat with the kids about the following talking points:

• Isn't it great that daddy finished his marathon after all that training?
• It was a little scary for me to drive down to Florida all by myself to go to the Disney run, but I am so glad I did it. I had such a great time!
• It's too bad we couldn't all be together at the finish line, but I sure do love celebrating with you together now!
• What's going on at school right now that we should celebrate with you?

And in case you didn't quite catch all the "Pro Level" Hidden Messages in those talking points:

• It takes a lot of hard work to meet your goal.
• Grown women should know how to travel alone.
• We can't always be at important moments for each other, but we will always be your cheerleader!

And while the lobster may have been my special treat, typical kids think it isn't a party without ice cream. They cheered when we allowed two of the kids' sundaes to be brought to the table. Little Pea was more than a little annoyed I asked her to wait before digging in so I could take this picture. Ha!

So what #lobsterworthy moments do you want to celebrate with your family? If you share your ideas on social with #lobsterworthycontest you'll be entered to win some cool prizes from Red Lobster's Lobsterfest campaign!